Ron Kittle recalls living the dream with White Sox

First of 2 parts

For Sox fans, 1983 was a dream season.

The team ran away with the AL Western Division, handing Chicago its first baseball title since the 1959 pennant winners, and the city embraced the South Siders.

The 1983 team even had its own storybook hero, a local sensation, the "big man from Gary," left fielder and Rookie of the Year Ron Kittle.

I caught up with the Sox legend a couple of days before the Sox, helmed by Kittle's former manager, Tony La Russa, clinched the AL Central.

He admitted he was shocked when he learned of La Russa's hire, yet considers him No. 1.

"I think he's the best manager in baseball. He's usually three innings ahead of every other manager."

Kittle said La Russa's specialty is relating to every player individually.

"It's not like you're having a team meeting and you're yelling at 25 guys and saying something and then you wander off. Tony takes his time to talk to you, to figure out what's going on."

He said he first met La Russa in spring training in Sarasota in 1979, when Kittle was in AA and La Russa was managing AAA Iowa.

During a game, the catcher got hurt, and Kittle, originally a catcher, was asked to fill in for the last couple of innings.

"I had already played on another field and I was just watching the game," he said.

La Russa, coaching third base, told Kittle, "We're not going to steal on you."

"I knew better than that. Within three pitches, he had a double steal on. I threw the guy out at second base. We got (the other runner) at home plate. Double play. Then I threw the ball at Tony and said, 'Thanks for lying to me.' "

In 1979, Kittle was in the midst of a comeback. He had been playing in the Dodgers organization in 1977 and 1978 before a broken neck derailed his Major League hopes.

In 1978, Kittle was given a second chance by the Sox. During a late-season tryout, he hit a ball on the Comiskey Park roof off Sox pitching coach Bruce Dal Canton.

Kittle said, "You have to have a strong attitude to come back from a broken neck. I was told by the doctors that I would never play any sports again, let alone have an active life, so that was my mission to prove this guy wrong."

After toiling in Knoxville, Appleton, and Glens Falls, he had an impressive spring in 1982. But the Sox couldn't find room for him on the big-league roster and sent him to AAA Edmonton.

Kittle was a catcher, but that position was filled by Carlton Fisk, and the Sox had Tom Paciorek and Mike Squires at first. In left field, "They had Steve Kemp in front of me. He was getting paid a lot of money, and I understand the scenario. If you're getting paid, you're going to play."

Kittle, who had hit 40 home runs in 1981 in Glens Falls, said he thought he deserved to be promoted in 1982, "But you got to wait your turn." He said his dad put it in perspective, telling him, "You can't be in too big of a hurry."

After hitting 50 home runs in Edmonton, Kittle earned a September call-up in 1982, before being given the left-field job in 1983 after Kemp declared free agency.

He made the most of the opportunity, posting 18 home runs and 56 RBI by the All-Star break and earning a spot on the American League squad for the 1983 All-Star Game at Comiskey Park.

The Sox had a sluggish start at 16-24, but Kittle's play gave fans hope.

"I was one of the few players hitting well in the first half of the season," he said.

Kittle said of the All-Star experience, "With all the excitement, it was mentally and physically draining, because I tried to accommodate every news station, every TV show, every reporter, and I don't even know if I rested to tell you the truth."

There was also the thrill of playing in the company of those he had watched on television and idolized.

He said AL manager Harvey Kuenn gave the team a little talk in the locker room prior to the game.

"He said, 'I ain't going to bat for you, throw a ball for you or catch. You guys do it. Have some fun and win a ballgame."

He remembers that Kuenn put him in his normal position of left field in the seventh inning, then switched him to right in the eighth, since Rickey Henderson said, "Skip, I can't play right, because I'm left-handed."

Kittle said, "Everybody in the dugout looked at Rickey and said, 'What did he just say?' It was all right in my book. I didn't care."

Kittle hit a single off Pascual Perez and struck out against Lee Smith, as the AL, sparked by a Fred Lynn grand slam off Atlee Hammaker, won 13-3.

He said he was in awe of the old-timers who were on hand, including Joe DiMaggio, as well as the future Hall of Famers there who were about to retire, Johnny Bench and Carl Yastrzemski.

"I just wanted to get autographs. That's how cool it was for me."